A Wobbling Cross Bailey Cap - is it normal?

[qqq8zzz]

Could anyone tell me how much a Cross Bailey's cap should be expected to wobble? - eg when capped?

 

I've just bought a Bailey whose cap does this, shifting around by as much as a millimeter on either side. The wobble is especially noticeable when the pen's held by the cap. How typical is this of Baileys? My other Cross pens (Calais, Century & cherished Dubai) all have very secure caps.

[pitonyak]

Wow, over a week and no response, so, I will give you my very limited experience.... 

 

I own one Cross Bailey Light. I purchased it used from Amazon because I wanted to test a Cross EF nib. When I first picked up the pen I thought "no wobble here", but I was looking for it. Sure enough, there is a very slight wiggle. 

 

A little speculation, so I might be wrong, but..... 

 

Pull the cap. Look at the pen near the nib (I attached a cropped photo). You see the nib (silver), something black, silver bit with a ridge, and then the blue pen body. That ridge is what I think, causes the pen cap to stay on the pen. I have other pens that use this method (Lamy Studio), but some others that do not screw in place provide a point closer to the pen barrel.

 

With the cap held in place so far from the body, that means a couple of things. First, at least in this case, the rim around the cap opening is not forming a seal between the pen cap and the pen body. The tight position is an inch away where the cap is very close to the pen body. On my pen, that is probably closer to 0.25 to 0.5 mm, but I am not going to try to measure it. It is very small, but, I am able to wiggle it and I can tell if I really concentrate. 

 

Next, I grabbed a Cross Century II and I thought, "there is no play of any sort". But, it uses the same mechanism, it seems to be tighter, but for sure I can see that cap opening move relative to the base. This is absolutely NOT possible with my Lamy 2K. And I need to run.... Hope this helps at least a little. 

 

Figure out if it moves too much then make a decision. 

 

[Bill P]

On 2/4/2021 at 7:14 AM, qqq8zzz said:

Could anyone tell me how much a Cross Bailey's cap should be expected to wobble? - eg when capped?

 

I've just bought a Bailey whose cap does this, shifting around by as much as a millimeter on either side. The wobble is especially noticeable when the pen's held by the cap. How typical is this of Baileys? My other Cross pens (Calais, Century & cherished Dubai) all have very secure caps.

Cross has a Lifetime mechanical warranty...which includes caps....I would call them and send it back for repair or replacement.

 

I believe you prepare a RMA on line, and there is a nominal postage fee.

 

Bill P.

[Man O War]

I own a Cross Century II that the slightest of wobbles, but always stays on and the nib is always ready to write - never had a hard start in it, and I’ve left it inked and lying around for months at a time before.  

 

Just purchased a Townsend, so we’ll see if it does that too.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[Gomer]

My Cross Bailey does the same thing.  I never noticed it before.  It doesn't seem to cause any problem.  The cap is sure not going to pop off.  I have a Baoer 388 that also does the same thing.  Maybe this is common in pens with snap on caps.